2-Maze Challenges, Double – CrossRoad

Every once in a while you run into a puzzle where the pieces seem to be at cross-purposes with one another, forcing you to battle on until you are cross-eyed.  You may even be tempted to crosscheck the starting position with the challenge descriptions by cross-matching maze plate colors and orientation indicators.

Of course I’m talking about CrossRoad designed by Brian Kren and made by Puzzled By Piker.  I bought it because I thought the label said it was a crisis-causing amazing challenge.  It turns out that it was a criss-crossing multi-maze challenge.  All-in-all, it provides 62 amazing crisis-causing criss-crossing multi-maze challenges to conquer.

The puzzle is 3D printed and consists of a frame, 7 maze plates, and 2 sliders.  The frame holds 2 of the 7 maze plates at a time and the different combinations of maze plates and starting slider positions provide 62 challenges to solve.  The number of moves to complete each challenge ranges from 7 to 67.   

The included documentation identifies the 2 plates required for the each challenge, their orientation, and the location of the sliders for the starting position.  Each plate is printed with a different color for easy identification and has 4 debossed symbols used to identify the orientation of the plate within the frame.  

I originally expected that the 2 plates would move in different directions, one along the x axis and the other along the y axis, like Goodbye (Say Hello to – Goodbye).  However, both maze plates move along the same axis, which also makes them easier to manipulate.

Each slider consists of 2 pieces that are magnetically connected so that they can be separated to easily insert them through the frame and maze plates.  The sliders move within the cross of the frame and through the mazes as both the sliders and mazes are moved.  Do I even have to mention that the ends of the sliders get in the way of each other.

Each maze plate has a single exit point and the goal is the manipulate the plates and sliders so that the plates are eventually removed from the frame.  Each challenge states the minimum number of moves to solve the challenge but you are certainly welcome to exceed that number if you so desire.

With the easy-reset magnetic sliders, setting up the challenges is quick leaving you to focus on the challenges themselves.  I found that as I worked on the challenges, I developed a feel for how to traverse the mazes and was able to solve them quicker (for the same difficulty level) as I went along.  The cross and the windows in the frame provide ample viewing of the mazes to chart your way.  The first objective is to try to determine which plate needs to be removed first and you can easily guess wrong.  Needless to say, a lot of backtracking may be involved.  If you get hopelessly lost, it only takes a couple of seconds to reset it back to the beginning.  I didn’t find it necessary to do this, but there were several times I was going back and forth trying to get the sliders past certain blocked moves.

I haven’t completed all 62 challenges, but I can say that CrossRoad is a nice design and the implementation is well done.  Thank goodness for the easy-reset sliders.

Since this puzzle utilizes 2 mazes at a time, I’m tempted to refer to it as Double CrossRoad.  Especially since the pieces always seem to keep going back on each other.  Of course there are 2 sliders as well so maybe it should be Double Double CrossRoad.  And for variations in the future?  Triple Double CrossRoad anyone?

Although the packaging and included documentation studiously avoids providing any means of contact including a website address, this puzzle was made available on the Puzzled By Piker Etsy Shop.  It is currently unavailable but you can purchase the STL model files for a nominal fee to 3D print a copy of your own.